Isuke No Challenge
by MaryChuu
Summary: Everyone is back at Myojo for a second year. Or shall we say second round? The challenges haven't stop, but this time it's not Haru
1. Chapter 1:Challenged

**A/N**

Hello! So I decided to write a fanfiction about Haruki and Isuke too, after watching AnR and feeling the frustration of not getting a second season of them. Anyway this is drama and maybe slice of life right now, but since the stories that I think are usually something different than pure drama, (like mystery, crime etc) this story may change in the future. I was even thinking of writing a Vampire AnR story since I didn't see any, despite it sounding overused already. Vampire Isuke and Haruki sounds good.

So If I keep on updating this story, there is some possibility that it won't be only drama after some point. Not Vampires though haha.

ps. There are might be some mistakes and mispelling

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

One night, just like every other boring night she had to be in that filthy place called Myojo, Isuke decided to take a turn.

Once again, she had successfully bully her roommate out of their room's bath for the night.

Well, it wasn't difficult to do so anyway. Sometimes Isuke was even hoping that her roommate would just put some resistance before giving up on it, just for the sake of drama and escaping from that miserable situation she was in again. The life in that hell hole that happened to be called Myojo where she was stuck for the second time.

But no. Haruki would always smile and gladly grant her their room's bath.

"We have a good time with the rest of our classmates there Isuke-sama." was Haruki's usual reply. "You should join us too, just like how you used to do when we first came here"

Everytime Haruki would suggest this, Isuke was grinding her teeth and of course refuse the offer. Even if she hated to admit it, it wasn't that bad using the public bath with the rest of them. But of course, that was back when they had to kill Haru. When she wanted to gather information about her competitors and maybe use some of them to her advantage. At least that's what she would say to herself after not actually hating the whole experience overall. But now there was no point in trying to socialize with anyone, or even hold back on insulting people to the slightest.

But even for Isuke it was sometimes hard to move an idiot who had basically no ego to feel personally attacked by her bitter remarks. This situation reminded her of the combats she would have during her assasination jobs. Haruki would be the type of person to always find a way and remove her knives, guns or whatever weapon she was going to use against her victim. A little bit of carelessly smilling and brushing off everything was all she was really doing. A simple, yet greatly effective way to beat Isuke's torturing attempts everytime.

"Nio and headmaster's disgusting ideas" Isuke angrily muttered to herself while heading to a different direction than her usual way to their room. "If only it wasn't for that stupid sudden test"

After winning the surprise challenge, Mizorogi-sensei's wish was that everyone would graduate from Myojo. Of course he had already prepared their diplomas, but the only legit of the bunch was Haru's. Since the rest of the girls had all been expelled before graduating, these diplomas were just a mere piece of paper Mizorogi-sensei had prepared in the hopes of making his ex students to feel better.

Since his wish would have to be a reality no matter what, all of them had to return back at Myojo. Of course Haru didn't have to, since she had already graduated once, but she willingly chose to return too.

"Haru just wants to have fun with her classmates. I want to get to know everyone properly this time" was what the girl said after Nio announcing they all had to go back to school but her.

"Then it's decided" was Nio's sly and wuick response while giving her usual shark-like smile.

Thinking of that moment again Isuke sighed heavily, making a sound that anyone would be able to hear even if they pretty far away. It resembled more like a yelling rather than plain bored sigh. Isuke was so fed up already, and it had only been one week after their re-enroll to Myojo. That was the reason she decided to take a different turn that night.

Isuke stayed in the class for thirty minutes more than the rest of her classmates that evening. She was yet again the one to get a perfect zero out of hundred for the third time in a week. Mizorogi sensei could only let that slip for a few times before finally sharing his concerns about the girl's performance. After half an hour of endless tutoring, he was planned on keeping Isuke much longer and teach her about the basics of that test. But even a teacher as enthousiastic as him couldn't help but get major chills on his back by Isuke's blood-dripping gaze every single time he would open his mouth to talk about equations and math again.

She exhaled tiredly and shrugged. "I guess I could use these idiots to my entertainment from time to time" she mumbled to herself when she reached the front of their school's public bath door.

The girl was already wearing her bikini instead of underwear under her clothes, so she didn't have to go back to their room to change. Isuke started getting undressed to her swimmwear right before she was going to enter the bath.

Isuke was ready to open that door when an all too familliar laughter from inside stopped her from acting.

"Yo Mahi- ehm Shinya get these ducks out of my face" Haruki laughed, feigning annoyance as she was squeezing one in her hand.

"They are part of the familly now" the smaller girl answered with her usual raspy voice. "Don't you care about their feelings? I thought you were a caring person Sagae-san" Shinya asked devilishly smilling.

"You can't argue with Banba-san" Suzu interrupted politely.

"Yes let her be Haruki-san" Chitaru added on a relaxed tone, while the warm water already working miracles on her muscles.

"Who knows, maybe I would fill my room with stuffed animals too if Chitaru-san wasn't here." Hitsugi added, resting her head on Chitaru's shoulder.

"Now now, it's not like Sumireko-san isn't in Myojo right? She just doesn't use the public bath like us, that's all." Suzu added while relaxing her head in the water. Despite her never ending youthful looks, her emotional maturity was developed just fine.

"You sure know how to break any tension, don't you?" Nio grinned at Suzu.

Despite everyone knowing her body scars, the blonde would always wear a full body swimmsuit everytime she was using their school's bath. "Seems like everyone is here today" she added. "Well everyone except the usual people anyway"

It was true, the Myojo students had already unofficially established meeting in the school's bath almost every night after the class was over. Everyone was usually there except Takechi, Tokaku, Hanabussa and Isuke.

"Tokaku-san isn't the social type, right Haru?" Nio grinned at the girl. Before Haru's blush managed to show, Nio turned her gaze to Shiena "I'm sure you don't mind Takechi missing though"

"God knows what she's up to again. Taking a break from her is always welcomed" Shiena replied annoyed, crossing her arms to her chest.

"But..." the blonde resumed "You are lucky you are not in Haruki-san's position"

Hearing her name, Haruki broke away from the oblivion the bath was puttingher in, and her body jolted on its own as a response.

"Wh-What about me?"

"You haven't been paying attention at all, haven't you?" Nio asked on a fake hurt tone as she shrugged, making Haruki to scratch the back of her neck being caught.

"Thinking of your familly?" she paused "Or could it be...your roomate?" the blonde grinned.

"Wha-What?" Haruki exclaimed. "I was just relaxing, besides Isuke-sama always takes bath in our room"

"I admire your will power to put up with Inukai-san's every whim" Nio remarked

"Yes how can you stand her Haruki-san?" Kouko cut in, finally participating in the conversation "I could never live with her. Especially after what she did to me in the surprise challenge"

Haruki was alert from the bath's calming fumes, as the attention of the group was now directed at her.

"What did she do?" she murmered without her voice actually reaching at Kouko.

"A classic high maintenance personality like hers is certainly not easy to handle. Not to mention narcissistic most probably too" Nio stated as a matter of fact.

Hearing the conversation about her, Isuke was ready to barge in and drown Nio right there and then, inside the bath in front of everyone's eyes. A familliar voice stopped her right before taking action

"I have more serious worries than Isuke-sama's mood swings, you know" Haruki tiredly stated. Her golden-yellow eyes reflecting the water's surface, and for a moment making Isuke even angrier for paying attention to them instead of planning the next step on how to painfully murder Nio.

Deciding enough was enough, a side smile escaped her lips as Isuke decided to retreat in her room.

Was that all that Haruki thought of her? Sure, she was indeed what they had previously mentioned. In fact she took pride on it too, to be precise. But that way Haruki uttered these words. It sounded so...indifferent.

Was that the reason why she was able to condone Isuke's eccentric behavior? Because she really couldn't care less whether Isuke was yelling, being bossy or keeping quiet?

Suddenly, a distant memory that Isuke thought she had forgot reappeared inside her mind while she was heading back to their room.

"Mom...dad...onii-chan...why"

That kind of feeling so dispicable to her, that Isuke was willing to kill. Eliminate everyone that would dare to make her feel that way. And focus on loving the things that could never betray her.

Money.

Despite popular belief, money and the power coming along is not the most dangerous threat in the world.

"It is always the people" Isuke mumbled between her breath, as her hand fell on the room's door knob, twisting it slowly to get inside.

And to even think that she wasn't in a particularly bad mood that day, even having already listened to their pathetic teacher for longer than usual.

Entering the room,Isuke sat down in her bed. It was only then that she realised she had been walking on her revealing bikini from the bath, all the way back to the room.

A grumpy sigh escaped her lips as she looked down at herself. She was lucky there wasn't any pervert to see her walking like that in the aisles. Situations like this would usually validate her. Every time a stupid guy was hooked on her, only to let him down in the end. It was all about the power.

But that moment she didn't feel like dealing with anything like this. Of course the fact that she was in an all girls school made things easier, but there were still some perverts there as well. Isuke could toy with them in the future.

Of course, out of everyone, her roomate was the exception. Sometimes Isuke wondered if it was possible for someone to spend their whole life without feeling any romantic or sexual needs at all.

Isuke planned on marrying a middle aged rich man just to wait some years before he dies and inherite his fortune. It wasn't as if she liked any of these type of men anyway. Heck, she would probably not actually like anyone she planned on being with in the future.

The closest she felt on being in love with these people were their wallets. So much that she was able to ignore the fact that she actually felt repulsed by them. But Mama had been in love with her Papa, so Isuke thought that she might understand the reasons why people fall in love in the future.

Isuke was aware that Mama knew better than her. After all, she learned everything from him. He had literally saved her life. Besides, Eisuke met his husband after a long time of giving up on love. His partner was a simple citizen, not even involved with his type of world. Isuke was glad for her Mama when he announced he was seeing someone. She was just ten years old, but she was able to recognise true happiness in her parent's eyes.

But these things were not for her. Deep down she knew she wasn't made for love or to be loved, and she was very lucky to have Eisuke in her life.

After that realization that from a very early age, Isuke's attention turned to power. She came to like the rush of being able to control people's feelings. Using her overly feminine side to seduce her targets. She didn't have to feel anything for doing so at all.

The more she contemplated over it, the more she would come to the conclusion that she didn't even know how romance felt to the slightest.

But why was she thinking all these nauseous things right now?

"That idiot...always babbling around without thinking. Just hearing her voice makes Isuke's stomach sick! " Isuke muttered as she laid down at her bed. "Tommorow I'm taking back the nail polish I gave her the other day. The idiot, she even broke the first one that Isuke was generous enough to give her. She won't get to keep the second I gave her now" Isuke concluded on a grin, shaping a triangle with her hands as she pressed them together.

"But no that is not enough for talking like this behind my back." the girl huffed unsatisfied, as she stood up on the bed again. "Maybe...I should just kill her familly" she smirked to herself, enjoying how her sense of power was coming back at her again just by thinking about it. "But then again" she checked her nails "This wouldn't be fun at all"

Even Isuke didn't like unnecessary murders. No matter how it seemed, money was her only motivation behind assasinations. Besides, even if she didn't want to admit it, Haruki's face was somewhat bearable when she wasn't sad. And lately, that idiot looked a little more stressed than usual. Not that Isuke would bother to notice anyway.

Suddenly, her mind made a sudden twist and her eyes shined through the dim light that was only provided by their room's lamp.

"I will make her like me." she though, feeling the blood rushing through her chest "Make her want me. And when I take my power over her, I will treat her just like these stupid guys I used to in the past"

At that moment, to Isuke this seemed like a great plan. It was what she was used to do in the past and it always worked. So knowing this she felt a sense of familliarity and safety to it.

"Starting from tommorow, she will regr-" the girl resumed even louder now but before finishing her sentance, she heard the room's door opening. Inhaling a sharp dose of air, she stopped herself from talking before giving away her plan.

Haruki tiptoed inside the room, her hair still up and a blue towel twirled around to cover her body. When she used to come back from Myojo's bath in the past, Haruki would sometimes find her roomate already asleep. Needless to say the girl was nowhere near happy when Haruki would accidently wake her up by the loud way she was accustomed to enter inside rooms. Growing up with so many siblings, everyone was used to loud noises all day long. So Haruki was able to sleep everywhere no matter what. Isuke on the other hand was a light sleeper and would always get pissed if someone dared to wake her up.

After taking a couple of steps inside the room's tiled floor Haruki felt her feet slipping on it. She tried to keep her balance but to no avail. Haruki fell down, only to now realise she had been dripping all over the room. Isuke mentally facepalmed herself at the sound of a loud thud coming from her roomate's direction on the other room.

The redhead silently cursed herself, hoping she didn't wake Isuke up again.

Dragging herself to bed, Haruki's eyes widened a bit at the sight of a sleeping Isuke on her bikini.

"Isuke-sama" the girl quietly called, not even sure if waking her roomate up was the best choice.

No response.

"That's a new for you" Haruki shrugged taking a pocky indifferently in her mouth as she watched her roomate sleeping on her left side curled, facing Haruki's bed.

That was the second time Isuke used mental facepalm, only now for herself. Being so abstracted that night that she didn't even put on her clothes. Especially after already noticing it some time before.

"Goodnight" Haruki whispered as she covered Isuke with the bed's blanket. Despite Isuke being one of the most cold blooded assasins among Myojo classmates, Haruki wasn't actually scarred of her. Not as much as she should anyway, was what Isuke used to think.

 _'That idiot...'_

Isuke resisted the urge to confort Haruki right away for being her weir self once again and clenched her fist under the covers. For some reason she couldn't be as rude as she wanted to when Haruki acted like this. But that night was different anyway. She had other excuses for doing so too.

Her curiosity wouldn't let go just like that though, so she slightly opened her right eye to take a peek at her roomate.

A choked-like sound came out of her mouth when she suddenly faced Haruki's toned body completely undressed. The girl was looking for her sleeping clothes inside her drawers. Haruki looked at Isuke's direction for a couple of seconds, not even sure if she heard anything or it was just her being too tired.

Isuke tried to force her eyes shut but she found herself staring at Haruki until the girl was finally asleep. Haruki had to pay for daring to upset her, was what Isuke thought before finally falling asleep too.

* * *

"All right all right. May I have your attention please" Nio exclaimed getting up on her chair to take everyone's attention. After Mizorogi-sensei left the classroom for the break, the blonde cleared her voice to make sure everyone was able to hear her.

She looked down at Isuke being the only one not paying a single attention, because well, she was still asleep on her desk.

"I can't start before everyone is able to hear me" Nio announced, hinting at Isuke's direction.

"Inukai" a voiced hissed from two desks behind. Tokaku would not feel particularly great every time Nio had something to announce. She wanted to get over with this as soon as possible and that pinkette was making her life difficult once again. Tokaku's cheeks had already started changing shades from the frustration.

"To-Takaku-san. You could ask more politely" Haru advised worryingly.

"Isuke-san" Nio called again letting out a big sigh. She was always enjoying situations like this, but people not cooperating was a little frustrating for her.

"Isuke-sama" Haruki tried to help too. At the lack of movement from the girl Haruki knew she failed as well. No one wanted to disturb Isuke from her sleep, as they knew she would not be happy about it. They weren't particularly afraid but after finishing their first year in Myojo, most of them did not want any extra drama going on. It was already hard enough having to go back at that class with nothing to personally gain at all.

Haruki carelessly shrugged like she couldn't care less of this or of what Nio had to say anyway. She opened a new box of Pockies and took a sharp bite from one. Absent minded as she was, the second half of the pocky she was holding took an interesting angle and velocity out of her hand. She was trained to throw these, or other sharp objects like this at her opponents but she didn't usually do it by mistake.

Isuke was finally up, feeling the pressure from a small object almost getting stuck inside her skull. It was stuck inside her hair and she already knew what this was when her hand landed to it. She had seen these way too many times to not even memorize their exact weight and shape.

 _'Isuke's going to kill you'_ she muttered to herself as she opened her eyes. After a while though she remembered her plan from the day before and she knew that killing Haruki would automatically make her fail right away. And Isuke didn't like loosing.

She looked back, trying to give one of the most convincing faces of 'I don't mind' she was able to pull. But watching a drop of sweat running down Haruki's forehead she realized the girl could see her actual frustration through her act. _'Damn, for an idiot she can be cunning'_

"Sorry Isuke-sama" Haruki waved at her wearing an uncomfortable smile.

"Alright." Nio got their attention again. "Now that everyone is here both physicall and mentally..."

"Your point is" Sumireko interrupted with a hidden impatience to her always collected tone.

"The headmaster has decided to bear you some pain of being here again only because of Mizorogi-sensei's wish. So she, along with my advice too, decided to make things a little more interesting for all of you." Nio declared almost proud of something that she was supposed to have done. Looking at her classmates, everyone was surprisingly paying attention.

"There are going to be some challenges throughout your stay in Myojo. The one who gathers most of the points at the end of year wins, and will be granted whatever they wish"

Soon, murmurs broke the pleasant silence inside the classroom already, and the assasins were already discussing about it. Most of them curious and confused, as well as some enthousiastic minority already, including Haru and Otoya.

"What kind of challenges?" Kouko asked sitting up from her seat.

"I don't have time for this again" Tokaku muttered in frustration, crossing her arms.

"I don't mind a little fun once in a while" Hitsugi looked at Chitaru, getting a nod of approval from the taller assasin.

"Alright" Nio rubbed her hands, forming her trademark smile. "These will be without a warning challenges. A great variety of them, including physical challenges or even ones regarding your performance in..." she paused wearing a grin "Classes, your knowledge in subjects that Mizorogi- sensei is teaching us."

Isuke flipped her hair. It already sounded painful. But then again, this meant she could win this time. Winning meant money, and that was enough to make her willingly participate on this.

Without thinking much about it, she turned her body to look back at the rest of them. Haruki was already smilling, talking with Haru on how if she would win that time, her siblings wouldn't have to be hungry again. Isuke's lips formed a faint smile and when Haruki caught her looking back, she gave her a big happy grin while waving.

Soon, Isuke realised what she was doing unconsciously and immediately crossed her arms, turning her back to Haruki's friendly gesture. If she had some minor hesitations about her plan before, each time Haruki would do stupid things like that was only a further confirmation to Isuke that she had to pay for disrespecting her like this.

"But careful though" Nio made herself audible between her classmates' murmurs. " There will be some secret challenges too. Ones that you will not be aware of at all" she said, pressing her hands together as a matter of fact. "Only the headmaster and me will know about them, and we will reveal the in the end."

"That's not fair!" Suzu interrupted.

"It would be better if we are aware of the challenges before hand" Kouko suggested "So we can prepare"

"I hope we get to cut Haru-chii's beautiful hair too" Otoya exclaimed happily, gaining a death glare from Tokaku.

"Rules are rules everyone. Try to have fun. You will find out soon anyway" Nio grinned.

With that being said, the blonde broke the gathering as she was the first to exit from the class. Everyone stayed in their seats for a while talking, still trying to make a sense of exactly what all of this was about.

 **0~0**


	2. Chapter 2:Hide N' Seek

**A/N**

Hey! so not sure if the chapter is maybe too long, so I decided to stop it here (and maybe leave something for the next one too). It is Isuke and Haruki, but I decided it feels better to have the rest of them interact too. Also there might be some spelling/grammar mistakes that I usually correct after a while beta-ing it myself. If you like leave a review too, I always appreciate those :)

 **Chapter 2**

 **Hide and Seek;Friday  
**

" _In fact, without the sun there would be no life in Earth today..._ "

Mizorogi-sensei's voice was loud enough to keep on breaking Isuke out of her deep sleep.

" _Indeed_ w _e wouldn't be here in this classroom right now..."_

Isuke was in a state of falling in and out of sleep. Awake enough to have a rough idea of what was going on around her, yet unconscious to see images flashing through her eyes as a dream.

"What the hell?!" the girl immediately arose from her desk when a small balloon of water splashed on her head.

"Who did this?" she demanded to know. The game had already begun, and apparently some of her classmates could use a mental breaking to their opponents.

"You should try harder next time" Isuke simply grinned back at her classmates, scanning them at the same time. Never show any weakness, including frustration when faced with your opponent. A very useful advice her Moma tought her.

Her eyes met a pair of golden ones and Haruki quickly waved a 'It wasn't me' at her. But Isuke knew that already. That idiot liked playing on fair terms anyway.

"Takechi-san. Please apologise to Inukai-san." Mizorogi sensei scolded.

"I'm sorry Isuke. I was just playing with it when it slipped through my hands" Otoya apologised feigning regret as her fingers kept of playing with a pair scissors.

"She can't even pretend properly" Mahiru whispered quietly to herself.

* * *

"See, it wasn't that bad today. I told you Friday is almost equal to weekend"

"Whatever." Isuke stated apathetically, checking her nails. She had already forgot of what Haruki said about her to the others the night before. Trying to be nice for such a stupid reason was something Isuke realised wasn't worth the trouble. Besides, what would happen if Haruki was seriously convinced of that act?

Isuke looked down at her heels.

"Well..." Haruki scratched her head looking at her "we can come back at her. "

"What are you talking about?" Isuke raised her eyes again.

"Takechi" the redhead gave her a questionable look. "You looked upset so I thought"

"Thinking of helping Isuke? I'm so moved" Isuke mocked, having her attention on making her nails perfect with the nail file

"You know you like it" Haruki winked. That was enough to take Isuke's attention away from her nails. Who did she think Isuke was?

"You can't go a day without being annoying, huh?"

"I just think being angry uses up a lot of energy" Haruki said while supporting her head with her arm on the desk. She seemed unaffected, even if Isuke's grumpy frown was turning more distinguishable by each passing second.

"Wanna go grab something to eat?"

"Not hungry at all" Isuke persisted, turning her back at the girl.

Meanwhile...

"Cold...it's cold"

"Oh, you said something Mahiru-san?" Sumireko asked politely as she watched the assasin trying to drink water out of her plastic bottle.

"I-it's nothing" Mahiru shook her head without making eye contact with her roomate.

"Well let's get going then" Sumireko smiled " I have already been enough inside this classroom for the week"

Mahiru slightly nodded, as they both stood up. The two would be the first to leave the class after Mizorogi-sensei had dismissed them some minutes ago. The rest of their classmates were still sitting around, casually talking.

As Sumireko put her hand on the door's knock, a strong electric shock coming from it, forced her to take a few steps back.

The curtains moved on their own, completely shutting the light coming from outside.

Had everyone been normal students, now would be the perfect time to make an uproar.

"Nice gear" Kouko spoke first, [ushing her glasses back to her eyes.

The person responsible for this arose from the corner that was previously sitting and chatting with Haru.

Passing a certain pinkette, Nio heard a familliar sigh behind her that Isuke made sure would reach the blonde's ears.

"I'm sure some of you may have already guessed what this is going to be about" Nio announced when she stood up in her desk just like the other time.

"You could use more civillized ways" Sumireko said with a hint of annoyance, holding her wrist.

"Ah, don't take that personally Hanabusa-san. You were just the first to exit, it could be anyone." the blonde shrugged. "You all have to be in here when I announce this"

"You call this fun? Isuke is already bored"

"I thought this wouldn't be dangerous" Tokaku hissed back from her desk

"Now now. Calm down everyone " Nio fixed her voice. "A great show without a good presentation is nothing."

She paused for a second to continue "This is your first challenge. Just like I promised, you won't get any warning or clue about it beforehand."

The rules are simple.

From this game, half of you have the chance to get your first points. Not every challenge will always have only one winner. Some of them are going to give points to multiple finalists.

For this one, you will be paired and compete against your roomates. Only one out of the two will get their first points at the end. That makes it six out of twelve of you overall. Yuri sensei and I decided to make it easier for you so you can have fun and not worry about the points so much _yet._

The game begins tonight at nine o'clock and it ends at Sunday midnight, when the day changes to Monday. That means you have almost eight hours from now to prepare.

Now the actual challenge, to put it simple, is called 'Hide and Seek', which probably all of you know what is already. You are devided in two groups, to give you some time apart from each other so your partner won't know where you're heading first.

After my signal, the first group will have to leave from the school and head inside the city. After half an hour, the second group will have to go too and then the challenge officially begins. The groups are decided randomly from Yuri sensei. The first is; Suzu, Chitaru, Takechi, Haruki, Tokaku and Banba. The second is the rest of you.

You are free to choose whichever destination you feel like is the best to hide, or the most possible place that you think your opponent is hiding.

"You will be given these trackers that you have to wear on your clothes." Nio said, showing the devices to her classmates.

They were just as small as to easily fit inside one's palm. Their shape was square and the color light yellow, with a red button on top of them.

"These have two main functions. When, or if you find your opponent, you have to press this button here." she said, pointing at it. "When that happens, a signal will be sent in the base, and we will note the score. But the game is not over when one of you wins first. The same will be repeated until Sunday night, like I said before. That means you will get a lot of chances to even the score even if you lost the first time. When someone wins, both of you will get one hour to change your location and start the game all over again"

Finally, this is important. There are also some restrictions.

You will have to move within the city's downtown range. Whoever might thought that going far away so they cannot be found, sorry to say but, your plan is against the rules. This rule is made to push the game ahead, so you are able to score points. And this brings us to the second function of these devices. They track down your location at any given time, and we are able to know if someone cheats.

Our school is inside the city's center, so if anyone of you feels risky enough, you can come back here too.

* * *

"Let me have it! You used it too much already."

"Wait a couple of minutes Shiena-chi ne?"

"You said a couple of minutes before half an hour!"

Haru was sitting next to Tokaku and Haruki in their school's kitchen, waiting for Takechi to be done with the oven.

"Tsk" Tokaku hissed slightly, tapping her index on the table. Her expression was the same as always, but it was obvious she was loosing her patience as she watched Takechi and Shiena fighting over who would use the oven.

"I will buy you some food from the canteen." she said while standing up "I've had enough of this, come Haru"

"Haru wants to do this challenge without any help." the girl insisted

"At this rate you won't manage to cook enough food to get with you for the days. There is not much time left" Tokaku sighed as she sat back on her chair "You won't make it either" she said, turning her gaze at Haruki.

"I know" the redhead started fidgeting and growing impatient of her classmates. "But man, I can't afford to waste an money for the food just for the challenge. And if I decide to come back to school to eat, it will be so easy for Isuke-sama to find me."

"Sucks" the bluenette said as she took a ship of her juice with a straw.

"But what about your plan for the challenge?" Haru asked "Have you settle everything else?"

"Well food is always my forst concern. But yes, everything else is settled. I was very good at Hide and Seek when I was a kid" Haruki chuckled as she stroke the back of her neck. "But I could really just use that pan right now"

The redhead pushed her chair away from the table and stood up, as she started walking towards her classmates who were still arguing.

"I told you, you have to boil the oil before adding the potatoes!" Shiena yelled "I don't care if you screwed this up. It is my turn now" the girl pushed Otoya

"Shiena-chan, rude. I know how to help you" Otoya said, pulling out her pair of scissors.

"Are you keeping these with you all the time? You know this is not normal"

"Oh my, I guess these lovely plaids make you say bad things Shiena-chan."

"No way!" Shiena exclaimed as she tried to remove the scissors out of Otoya's hands.

While doing so, the girl lost her balance and her shoulder hit the pan, making it jolt

"Shit!" a third voice behind them cursed.

Haruki rubbed her cheek in pain, when some of the oil was purred on her face too. Thankfully, it wasn't really hot and most of it landed on the floor.

"I-I'm so sorry Sagae-san" Shiena tried to apologised when she regained her balance. She was clearly feeling guilty over this too, even if it was Otoya's fault to begin with.

"Man it looks like I've been waiting for nothing" Haruki said, feeling her cheek burning up

"I will help"

"Nah. I'll just go back and put some ice or something"

Haruki gave up on trying to cool and walked out of the kitchen. It couldn't be helped, she would have to use her money during the challenge after all.

After a couple of minutes she was in front of her room. Without losing any time she opened it quickly and entered the room.

Silence.

Everything was just quiet and it felt like the walls and windows were completely shuting off every outside sound. It was the type of silence Haruki was well accustomed to. It was just like when an assasin would prepare before a job. Moving so quietly that their victim would not even relise they were going to die.

Walking to her bed, Haruki grabbed her old bag that she used to take in school and started putting the last stuff she needed before Nio's signal.

"Are you taking this with you? You're making this too easy for Isuke"

Hearing that voice, a drop of sweat ran down Haruki's head. She wasn't afraid of her roomate, but how could she have completely missed Isuke sitting on her bed. Sure, their room dark for someone to be able to hide, but for a second, Haruki was cought off guard. Isuke was certainly one of the best assasins in Myojo and Haruki actually admired her abillities.

But these abillities would only be a trouble to her now.

"Who knows, maybe I wanted you to see it. Maybe I'll drop it after we got out of school." Haruki whispered without taking her eyes of the bag.

Every time Isuke had a job, she would do it perfectly. The only time she lost was against Tokaku, and that was something she still couldn't accept. Even if that was for fun, just like Nio said, Isuke knew that nothing in that class was random.

She never liked loosing, that was her way of surviving. A way to control her life. But watching Haruki so carefree even in situations like that, was something that would intrigue her. And this is how she knew Haruki wasn't made for this job. A self sacrificing behavior was something Isuke could never wrap her head around at all. Sometimes this thought would pop up on her mind without a particular reason. It was so frustrating that Isuke was almost ready to visit her in the hospital after hearing what Haruki was going to do. Of course to make fun of her on how she failed to kill Haru, but the redhead got away with it because Isuke was still on the mission.

"You are too easy to read Haruki" Isuke hissed close to her ear. "You are not taking this seriously. You didn't even notice I approached y..."

Before she managed to finish the sentence, Isuke let out a gasp as she felt a familliar grip around her shoulder. Without having the time to process it, Haruki twisted her own body behind Isuke's and she was now behind her. By that move, Isuke lost her balance and fell on Haruki's bed. Haruki was holding the girl's arms tightly behind her back and she had immobilized her legs by sitting on Isuke's calfs.

Isuke felt blood rushing up to her head by anger. Opening her legs as quickly as to not let time for her roomate to respond, she made Haruki lose the control over her lower body. By kicking Haruki's hands away from her wrists, Isuke was now completely free from the girl's hold. In between the split of a second it was her time to reverse the situation.

A sadistic smile formed on her lips as Haruki was now the one who laid beneath her. But surprisingly the redhead didn't seem to put any resistance.

Isuke looked down only to realise how this didn't resemble a self defence technique a lot. This gave her that annoying feeling in her chest again, and the fact that Haruki wouldn't respond was making it worse.

"Tsk, I'll let you slip" she said, reluctantly releasing Haruki. That idiot being so quiet all of the sudden was making her feel weird.

"Truth is, I didn't notice you. But you let down your guard, so I was able to act quickly." Haruki spoke while dusting off her clothes. "I know you are working better with knives, but is this how you physically fight every time?" she added with a grin.

Isuke narrowed her eyes, trying to make some sense of the situation. She crossed her arms faintly smiled

"Next time we play on my terms then. I beat you in this already, you have no chance on winning" she smirked.

Suddenly an obnoxious screech filled the place with sound. It was coming from the room's hidden sound box that the Headmaster had overlooked on removing after the end of Haru's challenge.

" _Testing testing. Oh, we are on air. Finally hehe._

 _This is Nio speaking. The clock is ticking and you know what time is already. The first group has to be at the school's entrance in five minutes. The second will leave in half an hour after my signal. And remember, let's all have fun"  
_

"I guess I'm going now" Haruki stood up from her bed. She took her bag and threw it casually on her shoulder. Taking a few steps, she headed to the exit and opened the door.

"See you soon" she said, looking back at Isuke who was being quiet again, before closing the door.

Isuke kept on gazing at the door for a good five minutes before moving up from Haruki's bed too.

"See you soon"

* * *

"Welcome" a feminine voice greeted the people inside the room.

Yuri was sitting on the head of a large rectangle table. On its sides, there were six men and three women. Some of them wearing suits, others choosing a more classic approach, but all of them very elegant and expensively dressed. Next to her was Nio, standing and holding her Ipot.

"Like all of you know, today we are here to keep on connecting with each other by having fun. Each one of you is a very important partner of our bussiness and our policy always puts you first in our priorities."

The Headmaster paused, signaling Nio to talk.

The blonde cleared her voice before speaking. "As all of you are aware, our corporation uses the private security system all over the city." she introduced while working on her Ipot. After quickly pressing something on it, live cameras from all over the city appeared on the big projector in front of the gathering.

"At the end of this challenge you will have decide which one of our participants you think will be the final winner. Then you will have to announce your bets to Yuri-san and let the fun part begin."

"I always liked the procedure more than the money" a chubby man spoke, inhaling the smoke of his expensive cigar.

"I think this is why we are all here Kasai-san" a slender woman responded. Her fingers were loosely interwined on that glass table and she was emitting a calm aura.

"What about our youngest?" a grey haired man asked with a hint of sarcasm. He looked on the other corner of the table, at a fit silver haired man. He was the youngest among the rest of the bussinessmen in there, around his middle thirties. "Kyo Goto"

"I appreciate your concern Juba." Kyo replied, half ignoring him

"I heard that your ex was in Myojo, am I wrong?" Juba asked in a mocking tone.

"There are so many, I wouldn't be able to remember them" Kyo shrugged on a grin, earning a couple chuckles.

"Now now gentlemen. Let's enjoy this" Yuri politely interrupted as she pointed at the screen

"Are there cameras inside the buildings too?"

"That would be no. But the streets views are more than enough to get a clear picture of the game." Yuri informed, drawing some dissatisfied faces on the group, while others didn't seem to care.

Nio dimmed the lights and everyone's attention focused on the big projectors in front of them.

* * *

"Are we allowed to do this?"

"Nio didn't mention anything against this in the rules. Besides, I don't care if I lose. Protecting you is more important"

"Chitaru-san." Hitsugi said softly squeezing the girl's arm. A blush formed in her cheeks "You know I'm not as helpless as I seem" her grip turned stronger. "But I don't mind this at all. I will give you my points at the end so you can compete with the others too."

The redhead smiled as the kept on walking through the city's mall. This challenge seemed more like a normal weekend to them.

"It will be fun watching the others running though, right?" Chitaru asked, receiving a nod from Hitsugi.

"Do you think anyone else will do the same?"

Chitaru contemplated on it for a while scrubbing her jaw. "Tokaku and Haru or Sumireko and Banba would be possible. But Haru said she wanted to try the challenge on her own, and right after the challenge started Banba ran fast away from the school. Didn't seem like she was going to wait for Hanabusa-san"

"It's only us then I guess" Hitsugi looked up at the redhead with a smile.

After some browsing inside the mall, Chitaru halted and her eyes stopped at a certain direction in front of them. "Look who is there" she said, pointing at a shop window a few meters ahead.

"What is she doing here?" Hitsugi asked, equally doubfounded.

"She must be playing by reverse psychollogy. The most obvious place is not what Inukai would look in first I bet"

"Pretty smart, I have to admit. But...Chitaru-san isn't this a men's clothing shop?"

"It doesn't matter I guess" Chitaru shrugged "Plus, it's impossible to decipher everyone's strategy, right?"

The smaller girl nodded, still clinging into her roomate's arm. "These shops are open throughout the whole night, right Chitaru-san? We could come here some time"

"Sounds good to me"

Three Hours Earlier

" _Alright, this is the perfect place."_ Haruki thought, sitting down behind a rusty barrel in a dark alley. She opened her bag and took out the city's map. There was a tracking method she had learned when she was training for assasin. Self training, to be precise. She had to cycle the most possible areas that Isuke might be, and create a smaller area within the city's downtown that she would have to move. _  
_

"I remember she mentioned hanging around the park too, so I add this too.."

Suddenly, a tin can rolled behind the dead-end's corner. Haruki instinctively pulled out the string inside her hair band and got up. Walking around the streets alone at night was something she would usually do.

"Come out" she called forth. "I know you are there"

"I-It's me." a scarred voice spoke from the soon as she heard it, Haruki knew who it belonged to.

"Mahiru-san."

"Y-Yes it's me"

"I know, you can come out if you want. Hanabusa-san in not here."

The short girl reluctantly took a few steps ahead and her silver hair appeared under the streetlight.

"Do you plan to spend all the days here?"

Mahiru nodded without keeping eye contact.

"Well, how are you going to eat? Or sleep?"

"It doesn't matter. I have been trained for this. Besides, I-I can't let Sumireko-san find me"

"I see you are already devoted to this." Haruki tried to encourage "But was is your wish this time? Since now there is no one, you know, dying." she nervously joked.

"I just...I can't let Sumireko find me" the smaller girl said as she took some steps back. She was hiding inside the shadows again, and only the edges of her hair were now visible.

"Well, you know better" Haruki bended to pick up her bag. She twirled the map in a roll between her hands as she was ready to go. "Good luck Mahiru-san"

"Your hair..." a faint voice stopped her.

"My hair?" Haruki repeated, tilting her head.

"They are very...distinguishable" Mahiru said even more quietly before completely dissappearing in her hideout again.

The redhead stood there for an extra couple of seconds before heading outside the alley. "This is something I didn't consider"

* * *

"Hey look at there" Hitsugi nudged her roomate "I didn't know we would our classmates here today" the girl smirked

"Oh, Hanabusa-san. What is she doing there?"

"Seems like she bought something very pretty" Hitsugi replied, taking a sip of her low in alcohol beverage.

"And very expensive too" the redhead added.

Both of them decided to sit in one of the mall's cafeterias. Being Friday nignt, there were a lot of people around. But most of them were hanging inside where the music was playing louder and they were able to order drinks from the bar easier. On the other hand, the girls were taking their time to enjoy the night without getting into the bustle.

"But she doesn't look very happy, am I wrong?"

"I think so too" Chitaru said, drinking her Margarita lemon after she chewed some peanuts. "Hey Hitsugi"

"Yeah?"

"Am I drunk, or this is Sagae?" the redhead pointed in front of them while rubbing her eyes.

Hitsugi looked at the figure Chitaru was pointing. After some seconds of thoroughly checking it out she chuckled, trying to contain a laughter. "That's her"

"But, why is she dressed like a guy?" Chitaru's eyes narrowed, trying to zoom into their classmate "I wouldn't recognise her if it wasn't for that burn in her cheek"

"Me neither. Probably part of her plan I guess"

* * *

 _'This is the best idea I've had.'_

Haruki kept on walking through the street, trying to act less feminine and be convincing. Mahiru gave her an idea. She was reluctant about disguising at first, as she didn't want to spend money on anything else besides food. But when she saw that 99 yen store in the mall, she knew that would be possible. Despite that shop selling clothes only for men, Haruki's plan could still work. Of course she had to hurry and buy something before Isuke maybe finding her out.

She pretended the clothes were a gift when she said that the guy was around the same size and height as her to the seller.

So Haruki ended up wearing a long sleeved plaid jacket with a white tank top inside, and dark jeans loose enough to hide her curves. Her hair were all up and inside a hat.

Now she was able to relax just a little bit without the constant fear of Isuke lurking behind her back. Despite keeping herself busy with everything that day, Haruki kept on thinking of her. Of course that made perfect sense, as Isuke was who she should be thinking at this point. But Haruki wasn't thinking of just the challenge.

After coming back at Myojo, Isuke acted a little different. More isolated than before. Not that she was ever good with people, but something felt like was absent. Haruki would sometimes miss hanging with her in the school's bath. Earlier that day, when Isuke took over the control, for a second Haruki felt the same sense of familliarity again. She didn't want to move, only to not lose that part again. But she knew too well that people are usually only temporary in our lives. Sometimes physically, others emotionally.

Haruki jolted when she heard a loud honk across the street. It was a car full of drunk people with music. No wonders accidents like this were flourishing lately.

"May I help you?"

Haruki shook her head, thinking she was getting tired enough already to start hearing voices. Maybe returning back at school wasn't a bad idea. Yes, even if Isuke found her there, it couldn't be so bad. They could even agree to spend the night in their room and then keepon with the challenge again in the morning.

"Excuse me, are you lost?"

"Huh?" Haruki turned around, only to see that someone was actually talking to her. It was a girl around her age, probably a couple of years older. Her hair was dark and Haruki couldn't figure out the exact color under the street light.

"L-" she tried to speak, only to realise she had to talk on a deeper tone"-Lost?" she repeated after clearing her voice to sound more convincing. This was getting too cimplicated, it was just a damn disguise to help her with the challenge.

"Oh, I'm sorry" the girl replied. "I saw you standing here for a while looking at that map and I thought you might need some help"

"No I was just actually" Haruki thought really quickly of what to say without making it obvious there was something wrong "I was looking for AZ club"

"That would be across the street in fron of us" the girl smiled

Haruki internally cursed herself. Couldn't she think of something further away that this? Well, thinking of Isuke, she had actually mentioned that club before.

"I was actually going there too" the girl said with a smirk. "I'm Shina by the way"

"Um, I'm Haruki" the redhead scratched her head. Who would think that having a unisex name would be useful in a situation like this?

"Nice to meet to Haruki. Let's go" Shina said, grabbing her by the arm.

* * *

 _"Huh, this is boring"_ Isuke crossed her arms before taking another sip out of her drink. Despite sitting far away from the center, the music was loud enough to make her ignore that guy who was purposefully gazing for fifteen minutes. Maybe she shouldn't have wore that black skirt after all. But it was Friday night and she wanted to look good. Not to mention even better when she would rip that button out of wherever Haruki was hiding it in her clothes. That is if she would actually find her anyway.

After searching her for almost four hours, Isuke felt like it was time for a break. Something about searching for Haruki and not being abe to find her was really frustrating. It was just like the Earth had cracked open and swallowed her or something. Isuke made sure to look at even the most impossible places Haruki might be hiding.

"Hey pretty. Want some more drink?" the guy next to her called.

Isuke raised her eyebrow dismissively as kept on ignoring him.

"I can see you like it" the guy insisted. Apparently he had been watching her ordering the drinks all along. "Don't be so grumpy. If your boyfriend dumped you there is plenty fish in the sea"

'Tsk" Isuke hissed annoyed and stood up.

After a lot of pushing and some death glaring, she was able to move through the people inside that club and be finally on the second floor where there weren't as many people as the first floor. Scanning the area, her eyes stopped at an empty couch.

Perfect.

Isuke marched to it and finally felt the relief of being comfortable in a seat. Who would have guessed that she might be even missing her room at Myojo. Even Haruki was not that bad, despite her habit of waking her up some nights. She was trained to go days without sleep, but finding that idiot was not an easy job after all. Isuke took another sip and made herself more confortable.

Her eyes started drifting, and things started moving a bit like a dream.

Suddenly, a familliar figure passed quickly by the place Isuke's eyes were landed. She shook her head so quickly, it felt like she might rip it off. Was it just her, or was that who she thought it was?

Checking the area again, blood rushed into her head when what she thought previously was confirmed. Her biggest rival from the assasination jobs was apparently dragging some guy into the dance floor.

Of course Isuke would never let that scum have fun in her life ever if she could

Approaching the pair, the guy left to the bathroom, leaving Shina behind.

Isuke was able to check him out better now, as she was getting closer to them. She was curious of what type of filth would hook up with Shina. Zooming into him more, she suddenly gasped. On his cheek, there was the same scar Haruki had from the day before. And now that she was able to discern the details, that was obviously Haruki's face.

 _"That explains why I couldn't find you"_ she thought, talking more to herself than anyone else.

"Fancy meeting you here" Isuke said after skillfully making her way in front of Shina.

The brunette rolled her eyes coldly at her when she was faced with Isuke. She didn't seem surprised either.

"I see you have a company too" the pinkette hissed.

"Contrary to you, I have fun with my life."

"Fun like what? Wasting your time doing low level jobs? I guess this is what your abillities only allow you anyway" Isuke mocked, checking her nails.

"You know, going out. Dancing, hanging with nice people..." Shina got closer to Isuke's ear and whispered "getting laid with hot people. Fun stuff like that"

She smirked, feeling a great relief watching Isuke actually getting disturbed by her words. Weird.

Isuke tried to contain a nervous laughter, but soon she bursted a malicious one right in front of Shina's face.

"You mean this guy there?" she asked sarcastically, pointing at the bathroom's door "You are going to get really dissapointed. I'm sad I won't be there to watch"

"Oh, that girl already knows her stuff just great" the brunette smirked.

Isuke's eyes opened wide. She didn't mean to make that shocked expression at all. But she couldn't help it, knowing how Shina was well aware of Haruki's true identity. Not only that...but who knows what else might have happened that wouldn't cross Isuke's mind before.

She took a few steps back, still holding eye contact with her satisfied rival. Her lips formed a bitter smile and she quickly downed the rest of her drink.

Isuke decided that was something she wasn't interested in knowing at all. Her expression changed into a faint frown as she turned around and left.

 **0~0**

 **~Merry X-Mass!~**


	3. Chapter 3: Saturday

**Chapter 3**

 **Hide N' Seek, Saturday**

The music was still playing, beating really loud. Even from outside the club where Isuke was hiding, she was able to hear it clearly.  
' _I should have pressed that damn button inside the bathroom_ ' she thought for the fifth time, while waiting outside for her roomate.

It was all that vixen's fault and Isuke knew way better than to risk on revealing she knew Haruki personally. Only an idiot would miss the fact that Shina had her eyes on Haruki...for some bizzare reason anyway.

Despite that, Isuke was still tempted to just grab that idiot and tell her to stay away from that person, but that was impossible at this moment. If Isuke wanted to win the first challenge anyway. Speaking with Haruki would not benefit her at all. It would raise the possibility of loosing a lot of money, or even give the wrong impression that she cared about what that idiot was doing in her personal life. Not to mention probably enabling Shina on pursing Haruki more.  
It wasn't that she cared about Haruki getting involved with bad influences, but they were roomates after all and the pinkette would really hate it if that cheap excuse of a person happened to pop inside her room.

But...what the hell was Haruki doing with her on the first place? She never gave her the impression of picking up girls, especially in a way like this before. Could she be just using Shina for the challenge?

Isuke shook her head in frustration from overthinking about it and she changed her focus back on the club's main entrance. For a moment she held her breath when she saw a couple getting out of it. Her eyes widened as she watched the two figures kissing. Not restraining herself, she left the dark corner where she was hiding into, to barge in them already like she should have done half an hour ago.

Clenching her fist, ready to fight with Haruki and get the damn points for pressing the button, she abrubtly pinned her heels on the ground when she realised her eyes played tricks. This was actually a real guy who happened to wear a simillar jacket as Haruki and the girl looked nothing like that vixen besides the same length of hair, just below the shoulders.

' _Snap out Isuke!_ ' she thought, scolding herself before she returned back to her hiding spot.

After a couple of minutes of waiting, something else took Isuke's attention for a while.  
It was Kouko, running towards the city's Public Library.  
The brunette seemed to check the area around her, probably to see if anyone was watching. When she concluded it was clear, she climbed on the wall and opened the Library's second floor window to get in.

' _Is she spending the night in there? Such an obvious choice_ ' Isuke rolled her eyes ' _Suzu's going to have it really easy. It's not fair, tsk_ '

After a while, Haruki and Shina finally got out. They had Isuke's full attention, while the pinkette was waiting for Shina to go away,m so she could keep on with her plan.

But much to her displeasure they were still talking, while Haruki was walking Shina to the latter's car. Isuke zoomed her eyes in the car's plate and took a note of the number, just in case she happened to run into that car in the future.

' _Oh well_ ' she thought, checking her nails slightly satisfied ' _Just beat it already scum_ '

It was quite dark, and she couldn't see them clearly, but Haruki was grinning while rubbing the back of her neck. After Isuke almost loosing her patience, Haruki suddenly got inside Shina's car and they both left.

Isuke stood there, mouth wide open for a moment, trying to process what the hell had just happened. Apparently she was wrong thinking she couldn't hate Shina more before this. How dared she meddle in her bussiness for over a hundredth of time? Isuke was convinced that person was born to make her life difficult, even when she wasn't aware of it. If it wasn't for Momma she would have killed her a long time ago. Shina felt the same about her too, but she didn't kill anyone outside her jobs. Because of that 'moral-my-ass code', as Isuke used to call it, the brunette chose to make her opponent's life unbareble in every way possible instead if killing them.

Isuke dialed a number quickly.

"H-Hello..." a sleepy voice replied from the other line.

"Aren't you supposed to be checking for anyone cheating?" Isuke asked, her voice cool with a hint of boiling anger.

"Oh, you mean Haruki?" Nio pondered while checking her Ipot "She is still with the allowed range on the city. This is all I can tell you, but if anyone cheats we get an alarm notification in our headquarters"

"Tsk" Isuke hissed, hanging the phone on the girl's face

"Goodbye to you too." the blonde sighed as she checked the time in her clock. "Yuri-san's reputation is going places after this" she rubbed her hands, thinking of all the rich business people putting bets on this.

Isuke tried to think of the possible places Haruki must have gone. The possibilities were endless and her head started spinning. Knowing Shina, everytime she behaved like this with someone it only meat one thing. But there was no way Haruki would do this.

"Screw this" she hissed.

' _I'm going back. It's not like she'll find me there anyway_ '

* * *

"Hey" Haruki waved at the girl after caming out of the bathroom. "I have to go now. Seems like my friends won't come here after all." she shrugged, smilling uncomfortably

"Oh, sorry to hear that"

"Nah it's fine" Haruki shook her hands dismissively "They just do this sometimes" she quickly added, whilst making up this whole story.

"They shouldn't have left you waiting for this long only to not show up though"

"Well I know them long enough, they can just be...absent minded sometimes" the redhead scratched the tip of her nose

"Seems like I will be going too" Shina said after checking the time in her phone.

"What about your friends?"

"I was just keeping you company" Shina smiled

"Oh...you shouldn't have, really" Haruki smiled, shaking her hands in the air

"But I wanted to" the brunette insisted,speaking close to Haruki's ear so she would hear her "Let's go then" she winked, taking Haruki's hand, walking their way through the people towards the exit.

"Phew, finally. I can breathe properly now" Shina sighed, after struggling to get them outside.

"Right" Haruki said, scanning the street around them. "Thanks for keeping me company, I appreciate it. I should get going"

"Could you accompany me to my car?" the girl requested.

Haruki, who had almost forgot that she was still supposed to be a guy, she gave a questioning look, before realising it. It was true, someone like Shina might be in danger walking alone that time of the night. She was a girl and didn't have any special training like Haruki did to protect herself.

"It's only parked across the street" the brunette added, pressing the button of her keys to activate the flashes "There" she pointed

"Alright" Haruki thought of accompaning her unexpected guest there, and going back to her plan on tracking Isuke down after this.  
Crossing the street, she found herself in front of a silver, expensive looking car. Apparently, Shina looked like she had no problems in the financial department.

The brunette got in, and opened the other door. "Get in, I'll drop you by your house too"

Haruki was caught off guard. What excuse should she come up with to avoid the invitation now without being rude about it? "Oh, I have to stay here tonight" she just grinned, hoping Shina would drop it.

"But it's too cold. Where do you live?"

"My house is very far away, actually. I'll just wait for the bus here" the moment her lips slipped the truth, Haruki wanted to just slap herself hard. Isuke was right, she was an idiot after all.

"Then how about staying in mine for a couple of hours until the bus comes? I actually live pretty close from here, why wait in the cold for this long?"  
Haruki didn't reject it right away, only to have time to ponder on it better and find a convincing enough lie to end this for good. But the more she thought about it, the less she could find against the idea.

It was Fuyuka's birthday soon, and she wanted to buy her sister a gift. But having already spent money for the challenge, soon she would be close to broke again. Especially if she spent the night in a hotel for the challenge like she thought on doing before.  
So sleeping in a stranger's house right now didn't seem like such a big mistake. Besides, what could she do to her? Haruki was a trained assasin after all.

She sighed, thinking that this was not actually uncommon to happen between people these days. They were doing way more than this with strangers anyway. Haruki thought that maybe she was getting too involved in the assasination world already, and used to being bery cautious with people. At the same time, having no other friends besides her siblings, was probably contributing on her being more detached from the 'normal' society.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pressure you" Shina apologised "I'll be going now. Thanks for accompanying me"

"Oh no no. You didn't" Haruki said, shaking her hands "You are right, it's pretty cold" she briefly hugged her shoulders "I will come. If you still want of course"

"Jump in" Shina said, opening the car's door for Haruki to enter.

After less than five minutes of driving Shina parked her car in front of a two floor apartment and they both got in.

* * *

"One room for tonight"

The receptionist eyed the girls suspiciously. "Name?" the young man asked, looking down at the computer.

"N-Name?" Haru asked, slowly bringing her arms to her chest.

"Reservation name please" the receptionist repeated coldly. His face was saying 'I hate this job'. At this point, seemed like he and Tokaku were competing against who was going to make the ugliest frown.

"Speak better to Haru" Tokaku exclaimed.

"So Haru" he wrote down "And last name..."

"I-Ichinose" the redhead replied without thinking.

"Ichinose..." the young receptionist typed down in the Hotel's computer "I'm sorry but there is no name like that in the reservation list." he said, hoping the girls would finally leave him alone. It was five in the morning for god's shake.

"This Hotel is huge" Tokaku pressed her finger on the reception desk "I'm sure there are plenty of vacant rooms" she insisted, never taking her gaze of the man's eyes.

"Miss, do you know what type of hotel is this?" he asked, letting out a fed up sigh.

"I don't care-"

"It's an adult type of hotel. And you also need a reservation before hand too."

"An adult hotel...?" Haru repeated, trying to make a sense of what that meant.

Tokaku's pale skin started changing color and despite trying to surpress it, a bright blush turned her cheeks red.

"I thought so" the receptionist said, hiding a triumphant grin.

"Let's go Haru"

"B-But what about the weekend vacation?" the redhead asked, stubbornly gluing her legs to the floor, while Tokaku was already near the exit.

"There is plenty of time for this" Tokaku mumbled, making her way out "Come"

"Oh my" a voice from the stairs stopped her "Are you leaving already?"

"Hanabusa-san!" Haru called

The receptionist rubbed his forehead. Just when he thought they would finally let him have a couple of hours to sleep until the morning.

"Takashi-san" Sumireko said, approached the reception desk. "Give one room to the girls"

"Y-Yes Hanabusa-sama" his eyes alert, searching for a key behind the desk while trying to avoid Sumireko's glare "Here" he said as politely as possible to Haru, giving her the key "Room 405, fourth floor Miss Ichinose"

"Haru bowed, receiving the key from the receptionist.

"Let me lead you there" Sumireko offered, pointing at the Hotel's elevator.

After some minutes, they got out of it and were now on the fourth floor.

"Here we are" Sumireko smiled, looking at the room's door.

"Thanks Hanabusa-san" Haru said.

"Why do you help us?"

"Tokaku-san!" the redhead scholded

"You two were a great opponent back there. It was because I lost, I learned how to never stop improving. And when I think I'm perfect, I remind myself of that day"

Haru gave an approving smile, while Tokaku turned the keys on the door.

"Besides..." Sumireko started saying, her face slightly changing shade. "I want to learn about friendship" she mumble.

"Goodnight" she said before heading to the elevator again.

"What do you think she meant by that?" Haru asked when they entered the room.

"Becoming friends with someone as weird as Banba is not easy" Tokaku shrugged before collapsing on her bed.

* * *

Isuke twisted and turned uncomfortably on her bed. Despite trying to get some sleep she failed.

She checked the alarm clock on her side table.

 _'10:04 in the morning'_

"Sleeping only for four hours ruins the skin" she silently cursed, wearing her slippers to get up.

Isuke stretched and rubbed her eyes. ' _Shower_ ' she thought as she checked out of the window.

The school was so quiet on the weekends. Maybe she could stay there from time to time instead of going back at her house every Saturday.

Isuke turned on the radio and headed to her side of wardrobe. Technically the left side belonged to her, while the other was Haruki's. But since the redhead didn't own many clothes, she granted Isuke her side too, while Haruki just used the drawer for her clothes.

The radio kept on playing

 _'I belong to you_

 _And you, you belong to me too...'_

' _Such a corny song_ ' Isuke thought, but at the same time slowly dancing to it too. She checked the wardrobe, picking up her red bikini.

' _...you make my life complete, you make me feel so sweet_ '

"Only an idiot would like listening to this" she mumbled, swaying her hips to the rhythm.

After wearing the bottom, Isuke removed her shirt and clipped the top of her bikini behind her back, before putting the device Nio gave them inside it.

She looked up in the ceiling and whined "Momma I hate you. Why can't I kill her?" her voice frustrated and weak "Aunt will get over it sooner or later"

* * *

"Leaving already?"

"Yeah" Haruki grinned, scratching her neck. She didn't meant to wake up Shina, but the brunette was apparently a light sleeper. ' _Reminds me of someone'_

"S-See? I didn't steal anything either "Haruki tried to make a joke about it as she opened her bag. She wanted to be clear about everything before she was gone, but when she emptied her bag, it was too late to realise that was a big, big mistake.

' _Cute'_ Shina thought, looking down at Haruki's skirt. "I never thought you would steal anything" she reassured, getting closer to the redhead.

"You like dressing as a girl too?" she joked, a delighted smile forming on her lips. She enjoyed this more than she expected to.

Haruki's eyes widened in shock for a split of a second, before going back to seemingly normal. "This...this is my girlfriend's" she made a quick excuse, before mentally slapping herself.

"Oh what a lucky girl that might be" Shina said, not believing her guest for a second "Does she know where you are now?"

"Apparently not" Haruki tossed back, trying to play on the same wavelength as the brunnete in order to get away from this sooner.

"You did nothing wrong. Don't worry" she smirked "What's her name?" Shina pushed, trying to unmask Haruki despite enjoying this game too.

Haruki was caught off guard again. Trying to be as convincing as possible, she randomly said the name that came on her mind first, the name of the person she had been looking for since last day "Isuke" she mumbled, picking up her stuff.

"Isuke? What a strange name" Shina repeated, hiding a slight surprise from showing in her face. Despite the city being huge, she had only met one person with that particular name, because only a certain Eisuke was able to name his daughter like that.

"It's not weird, it's cool" Haruki shrugged "At least that's what she says anyway" she faintly smiled.

 _'Yes that definetely can only be only one person'_ Shina thought after hearing Isuke's trademark arguement everytime someone would make fun of her name. But of course there was no way Haruki actually dated her. Apparently they knew each other...somehow, Isuke had only eyes for rich men, she was so boring. But that was for the better, since Shina took pride over her superior taste in partners. And that hottie in front of her now was a great example.

Despite Haruki wearing very loose clothes, Shina could easily spot her feminine figure under them. Not to mention the toned arms and such pleasant face to stare at. Thinking of it, her adrenaline levels were rising. When she first saw Haruki reading the map under the street light, she thought that the girl was apparently waiting for a client.

The area near AZ club in the city's center was famous for having people like that. Women dressing like men, waiting for female clients to pick them up. These clients were usually well-off and sometimes even married. They had no intention of revealing their true colors to the society for various of reasons. So, everytime they wanted to hook up with a girl, they picked one disguised as a guy just in case someone they knew happened to see them. There were also men doing the same too, but they were located in totally different areas than this.

Spending the night with Haruki, Shina quickly realised that the girl was apparently clueless about this. That didn't make her lose any interest though. ' _Talking about being at the right place, the right time'_ the brunette thought satisfied. _  
_

But she knew women are different than men when it comes to this. They need more than just a promise of a hot night together with a stranger to come back. They have to trust you.

"Well Haruki, I know we girls can sometimes be...a total pain." she said, helping the redhead to pack her things. "If you ever feel you need some advice, feel free to call me" she said, taking Haruki's hand.

Shina wrote her number on the redhead's palm, and at the end of it a small heart. "Make sure to save this on your phone as soon as you get home" she winked "You don't want the ink to be washed off, right?"

"Right" Haruki stood up. "Thanks for everything" she said before exiting from the apartment.

After a while, Haruki's stomach protested. _'Maybe I should get back for supplies'_ she thought.

Having walked for about fifteen minutes, the assasin was finally back at Myojo. She wanted to make this as quick as possible. The plan was to get inside her room, and take the money she had left some money to buy food, before keep on with the challenge again.

Approaching her room's door, she suddenly stopped before entering when she noticed the door was half open. Taking a cautious peeck, she caught Isuke dancing to the radio while removing her clothes.

Even if she had seen Isuke like this before, Haruki quickly covered her eyes. This felt different than the times they all used to hang together in Myojo's bath. Maybe it was because of the way Isuke was dancing before changing in her swimmsuit. Haruki felt like she was totally invading her roomate's privacy right now.

But she had to win for her familly's shake, so she forced her eyes open again to see if she could maybe sneak behind the pinkette and press the button...

Or not. Since she watched Isuke putting the device inside the only possible area left on a bikini. Well there was the bottom too, but apparently there wasn't enough space for it in there.

Was that even allowed? To be placed in areas like this? She would have to ask Nio soon, after making sure Isuke didn't see her.

Haruki felt embarassed for watching her opponent in a moment like this, but she repeated that she had to do this for her siblings' shake. Isuke-sama on the other hand would rage even more if she got caught like that, so Haruki decided against barging in the room to press the button at this particular moment. She had to wait a little more.

* * *

Isuke sighed as she grabbed her towel and locked the room's door. She deserved to relax a little before rushing to the challenge again.

She descended the stairs and opened the bath's door.

To her surprise, another three of her classmates were already there too, but she decided to completely ignore them and just head to the opposite direction of the pool they were sitting.

"Is that fine Chitaru-san?" Hitsugi asked, putting some pressure in her roomate's back

"It's nice" Chitaru smiled, feeling the nerves on her back relaxing by the girl's massage.

"Seems like you two got a little carried away from the challenge last night" Suzu stated

"I said Hitsugi we should get going, but she was having too much fun in that bar. We saw some of...our classmates too."

"Oh" Suzu's face lit up "Who would that be?"

"It's a secret" Hitsugi pointed with a smile before turning back to look at Chitaru "But just because I wanted to stay for a little longer, it doesn't mean you had to get drunk Chitaru-san" she scholded

Chitaru scratched her nose and slightly laughed. "Guilty" she said confirming the girl's words. "Seems like I overestimated my alcohol tolerance. These margaritas were great though" she admitted, receiving a subtle dissatisfied sigh from her roomate. "You should hang there with us sometime too, Suzu-san"

"Sounds fun"

Isuke kept on hearing the conversation her classmates had. They alll seemed so satisfied with how things were progressing so far, yet this got on her nerves even more. It was in total contradiction to how she had spend the first night of the challenge. She was there to relax and forget about it, but instead this happy conversation was driving her nuts. She had to ruin someone's day, somehow.

"Suzu" she called across the pool

"Feel like joining the conversation?" the older girl asked, forming a fake smile

"Well I think i've seen something that you might want to know" she smirked.

"What that may be?"

"I know where your roomate is hiding" she spilled, feeling a sense of satisfaction and relief, knowing she would give Kouko a hard time.

"And why would she believe you?" Hitsugi added, revealing herself behind Chitaru

"She doesn't have to. It's her choice if she wants to go there and check for herself or not" Isuke shrugged

"Why help me though?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Chitaru confidently said "It's always there reverse with Inukai"

Suzu smirked "I know. I just wanted her to admit it herself"

"Oh my" the pinkette feighed surprise as she put her hand in her cheek "You figured Isuke out. I guess you don't need the information afterall"

"Don't get me wrong. I still want to win the challenge. Please share your information with me"

Had it been a different situation, there was no way Isuke would help anyone like this. But she really wanted to channel her anger now somewhere. Helping someone now, only meant sabotaging the other person.

"Well maybe I saw Kouko last night entering the public Library." she said, checking her nails. "Of course it's up to you wether to believe this or not" she smirked

Suzu closed her eyes and laid back on the pool and her lips slightly curved upwards.

Feeling temporary satisfied, Isuke got out of the pool and headed back to her room.

Entering inside, she instantly felt an unsual breeze cheeling behind her back. She quickly scanned the area, only to conclude that she was probably getting cold from getting outside the warm bath.

She sighed, marching towards the room's mirror and she unwrapped the towel from her body. As she checked her hair in the mirror, she caught a glimpse of shadow moving behind her from the corner of her eyes. Before turning around, a strong grip from behind trapped her arms.

"Agh!" she angrily exclaimed "Who the hell..."

"Missed me?" the voice behind her asked before releasing her.

"What the hell do you want in here?"

"Relax Isuke" the man said "I'm just here to help"

It was Kyo Goto, Isuke's ex and one of the wealthiest young men in the city.

"Help?" Isuke felt anger boiling through her body. If she was cold before, she now felt like she entered a shauna. "Get out" she blanly said, showing absolutely no emotion "Unless you like your throat sliced" she couldn't help but let out a hysteric smirk form to her lips

"It was you who took half of my money. I was treating you like a queen"

"But you willingly gave them to me" Isuke said, taking some steps back.

"That is correct." he smiled. Even if he was quite handsome, his facial features always turned ugly eveytime he smiled. "Because i wanted to of course"

"Get out" Isuke insisted, grabbing one of her knives from her bag.

Kyo raised his hands in the air "Wow there, relax. I'm only here to help"

"Help? What the hell do you mean?" the pinkette asked, feeling her patience vanishing by each passing second.

"Let's say...I know about this game you play here"

Isuke gave him an inquiring look and before talking he continued "I have connections. Information that can be really useful. For this challenge. Let's say that-Gah"

He sharply gasped, as a knee landed strongly on his stomach.

"You heard her" Haruki spoke from behind him.

Kyo held his stomach before getting up to look at Isuke "Your loss" he smiled before finally getting out.

"Phew" Haruki sighed before locking the door "I was waiting for that bastard to leave but he wouldn't" she mumbled.

"You know what that means now?" a husky voice hissed close to her ear, creating a weird goose bump sensation in Haruki's back. Isuke encicled Haruki's waist and hands, immobilizing her opponent.

"I do, Isuke-sama" she quickly turned around and escaped from the girl's grip. "But you shouldn't touch me so close with your device" she added, putting her hand on Isuke's top.

 _'Shit'_ they both thought at the same time

Haruki flinched for a second, feeling her hand going numb "I-I'm sorry but I have to do this for my familly" she yelled pulling Isuke's bikini off to reveal the device.

Isuke managed to snatch the device away, before Haruki was able to press it. "Do you think playing like this is fair?" she shyed away, covering her chest.

Haruki was ready to keep on fighting, but that stopped her. "Ok" she gasped "I'll give you ten seconds to put on a shirt" she gave Isuke's top back, turning around and folding her arms.

 _'Perfect'_ Isuke smirked and before the girl was able to react, she grabbed Haruki's arms behind her back and tied them with her bra's lace.

Haruki tried to move, only to be shoved against the room's door. Isuke interwined her legs between the redhead's in a way that made it impossible for her to move like this.

Her hands traced over Haruki's body searching for the girl's hidden device.

"Why are you dressed like that?" she whispered, her arms getting inside Haruki's shirt.

"You don't play fair" Haruki complained, feeling the warmth of Isuke's moving around her navel.

"Where you, perhaps, sleeping in someone's house?" Isuke asked amused "Now who plays dirty"

"Wh-What?" the redhead denied immediately. Isuke was probably tricking her to spill information about her plan.

Haruki gritted her teeth, trying to escape from Isuke, who getting really close to the place she had hid the device. Instead, the pinkette put more pressure around her legs and she tight the grip around Haruki's waist more.

"So you deny it" she hissed almost playfully. Her hands traced Haruki's inner shirt and finally landed on the lower area, at the ending point of the girl's back where Haruki's underwear started.

"Isuke doesn't like lies" she laughed, before pressing the device's button.

"Shit!" Haruki exclaimed when a beeping sound was heard from that rectangular box.

 _"Nio speaking. Inukai-san wins the first point. Sagae-san has one hour to go back to the city"_ the blonde announced from inside the device.

"One point for Isuke" she repeated satisfied, before unleashing Haruki's hands.

The redhead tossed the bra back at her roomate, before turning her back at Isuke again. "Next time, try to play fair with clothes on" she blankly said, trying to elicit at least some anger as a payback. "Your chest was seriously hurting my back"

Isuke lost her smug smile for a second before narrowing her eyes at her opponent to master a confident grin "So what" she said, wearing her top back. "If it works, it's a good idea"

"I won't make the same mistake again, Isuke-sama" Haruki stated before exiting the room.

 **0-0**

 **A/N**

Hey!

So I'll be having exams for the next month, so not sure when I'll be able to update. I'll try to write more when during the breaks, and maybe next chapter won't take long to come. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks a lot for your reviews, they are a great motivator for updating the story faster, as well as interacting with the rest of the fandom :)


	4. Chapter 4:Week-end

**Chapter 4**

' _Time is up'_ the snarky voice announced _'You are free to continue with the challenge'_

Isuke cringed at Nio's voice, covering her ears from the annoying screech the speaker made after the blonde turned it off.

"Seriously, is she doing this on purpose?" she muttered. This had nothing to do with Nio, but she was already pissed since an hour ago. Winning the first point just wasn't satisfying enough for her.

"Isuke made sure to rub her hand properly though" she smirked in an attempt to make herself feel better. When she was trying to immobilize Haruki, she saw a phone number on the redhead's hand. It was one that she had memorized very well, only to avoid picking up any calls from it. During their fight, she noticed that Haruki's hands were surprisingly soft. They also had a feminine touch, despite the fact that the girl used them in physically demanding activities.

Now, as far as she could see, the note in Haruki's hand was smudged enough from their fight. So she wouldn't be able to write it down anywhere, anymore. It wasn't like she cared about Haruki contacting Shina or something of course, she did this merely to get back at the brunette for before.

"Isuke likes playing dirty after all" she smirked, checking outside the window. "For all the times she used Momma to get away with meddling to my business. This is a small payback."

' _Also, what was that creep doing here again?'_ she thought, referring to the man who sneaked inside their room. It wasn't like he wanted her dead after willingly giving her a part of his money, but he was as weird as ever. Even though Isuke didn't care what her classmates, this little incident was still something she'd prefer staying outside the school. She didn't want these amateur assasins to know these detailss about her life. Especially idiot assasins like a certainn someone.

But Haruki had already seen everything. Isuke frowned, letting a hint of anger appear in her face. "It doesn't matter anyway. It's notlike I care about her opinion for my life" checking herself in the mirror one last time, she headed out.

"Now, where would a poor child of a big familly go first..." Isuke pondered as she was walking towards Myojo's exit door. The sun was bright up in the sky. ' _This seems to be a day she likes jogging around school'_ she thought.

Trying to place all these clues together, was making Isuke frustrated. She formed a rough idea of where Haruki could be hidding, but putting all this energy on thinking about her roomate was giving her strange feelings. Getting outside the school's main entrance, she remembered the first time they met.

Haruki was annoying right from the beggining, and she didn't seem to have a sense of personal space either. But Isuke could see that her roomate was different from the assasins she'd met before. She was gentle and genuine, which was making a bizzare combination with her careless attitude. She didn't hate it, and this was what would make Isuke feel weird.

After roaming in the streets for a while, she decided to try a different way of searching. She entered an alley and climbed a building from the exit stairs. After three floors, she was now on the roof. She took out her binoculars and checked down the steets. Nothing.

It wasn't like she expected to spot her opponent so easily, but this was a good chance for her to admire the city's view. She usually didn't care about stupid things like noticing the trees and the areas outdoors, but she had been in an strange mood since yesterday.

Checking down, her eyes fell on a Diner. It was a place a certain someone would enjoy for sure. Isuke on the other hand would only go to proper restaurants. After browsing the streets for a little while, she decided this was pointless. Humiliating Haruki in another face to face fight would definetely be interesting though.

"Well, Isuke thought of trying" she sighed, before finally giving up on her search. She had already won the first one anyway, so there was no point in rushing. Maybe she should just wait for her opponent to find her first "How boring"

Getting back down, Isuke felt a strange elation. Even that stupid happy weather was not so annoying, considering how her mood was quite different two hours ago.

Suddenly, she felt a thud behind her neck. It was in that place where it causes dizziness and makes the person to stumble. Because of that, she wasn't able to react quicjly, and soon her hands where tied behind her back.

"What the hell do you want here?!" she yelled, before a piece of cloth sillencing her mouth.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you" the man smirked, before pushing an injection inside Isuke's arm. The girl's eyes widened for a second, but took an unmoving glare quickly. If looks could kill, Goto would already be dead by now. Even when Isuke was serious in her assasinations, she usually didn't use that type of look to anyone. It was one that would give shivers down someone's spine, and it made her look like she was surrounded by a black aura all around her body. The glare of death.

"Ouch" the man mocked Isuke's gaze "This won't help you now. But really, there is nothing to worry, this will just be fun"

Soon, after Isuke falling asleep, he untied her hands and left her there lying. He checked around him quickly, and got inside a van.

"Boss, are you sure this is not against the rules of the challenge?" the driver asked him before starting the engine.

"Yuri-san said we are allowed to help the contestants we put our bets on."

"Is that considered a type of help?" the driver asked reluctantly.

"Of course. Since I put my money on Sagae to win, this is me helping her. Yuri-san didn't mention anything against sabotaging their opponents. Besides, this is a non harmful drug" Goto said in a satisfied way, checking the time on his expensive hand clock. "She will just be hallucinating for a few hours" he added, before ordering his driver to get him to his usual place for lunch.

* * *

"Th-thank you but I can't accept it"

"Man, come on Banba. You've been here for two days. You need to eat something"

"I have survived without food longer than this"

"But still, we are only halfway through the challenge" Haruki rubbed the back of her head.

The white haired assasin sighed. She had learned by now how Haruki was quite stubborn. "If I tell you something, promise you keep it a secret. I-It's actually embarassing..." she said, her cheeks slightly changing color.

The redhead was taken aback for a moment, before making a dismissive gesture with her hand. "Of course"

"It...it's that" Mahiru shallowed "Shinya has been pressuring me t-to talk with Sumireko-san..."

"I see no problem in this?"Haruki tilted her head slightly to the left " I mean, you talk to her everyday, right?"

"B-But this is different!" the girl said, almost losing her cool "Sumireko-san wanted to buy me a gift. She told me about it right before I was leaving for the challenge yesterday. I-I didn't say anything back, but..."

"you don't know how to turn it down?"

Mahiru nodded, not making any eye contact. Haruki was ready to say something along the lines of 'You just need to talk to her and be honest', but a sudden realisation made her flinch. She remembered the previous night, where she couldn't even turn down a stranger herself either. This even led her to say a chain of lies, even something as big as she was dating Isuke. Suddenly Haruki felt her cheeks getting warmer.

"I-I've been trying to discourage Shinya from saying or doing something reckless. Staying in this place, it's harder for her to find Sumireko-san when she comes out at night. And when I tried to talk to her about it, she doesn't listen and wants to do this her own way. And I-I can't accept the food because she is easier to control when she is hungry"

"Shinya-san is not easy to tame at all, huh" Haruki joked before standing up. But this situation was indeed messy. "Only you know your self better. So you know how to deal with this better than me too, right?" she grinned, slightly patting Mahiru's head before leaving.

"G-Good luck" the white-haired assasin said, waving goodbye back at her classmate.

It was already dark outside. Haruki had spend her whole day roaming around the city. No signs of Isuke so far, so she decided to take a walk to the park.

' _I could go back to Myojo for the night_ ' she pondered, sitting on an old rusty bench when she was finally in the park. Plans on how to capture Isuke had not stop running through her mind during the whole day. She knew that the girl might not come after her now that she had the first point too.

There was an eerie silence around her. It felt nothing like a day ago. She checked down her phone; 1:17 a.m. It was already Sunday, the last day of the challenge.

Days in Myojo were passing by fine for Haruki. She had free food and the chance to finally get a highschool diploma. It was embarassing to admit, but she had only graduated only up the 7th grade. She was also making new friends, which was something she didn't know she needed until she started hanging out with her classmates. Even though she was an extrovert, she never had any other friends outside her own familly. Even Isuke was nice to have as a roomate. Haruki wouldn't admit it, but sometimes she liked teasing her and watching the girl getting frustrated too.

 _'I wonder what Isuke-sama is doing right now_ ' Haruki closed her eyes and drifted away with her thoughts, before she could hear someone running.

Soon, quite far ahead she spotted a figure moving through the tall trees of the park. Squeezing her eyes more, Haruki wasy able to see a bit more clearly of who that was.

Kouko's glasses reflected the light from the street lambs. She was apparently trying to hide, since she wasn't using the park's main road. To her surpsise, the brunette spotted her and got closer.

"Haruki-san"

"Kouko" Haruki greeted, feeling a bit confused as to why the girl approached her right in the middle of the challenge.

"I have some information you will find useful"

Haruki tilted her head, slightly confused.

"I know where Inukai is" the brunnete said, getting straight to the point, obviously being in a hurry. "I saw her about half an hour ago. She was inside the Hashimoto Street alley."

"Th-Thanks" Haruki said dumbfounded. "But why?" she asked reluctantly, unsure of her classmate's motives.

"I was ahead of Suzu by one point" Kouko sighed "I found the best hiding place and I was going to spend the rest of the challenge in there. It seemed I was going to win..." she said, signs of despair and frustration slipping through her voice without intending to "But Inukai somehow knew about my location and she revealed it to Suzu"

Haruki was surprised. Of course it wasn't out of character for Isuke to do something like that, but she also didn't care enough about the others to interfere with their challenge.

"And now what's the score?"

"I'm losing by one point, our score is 1-2. First, Suzu-san evened the score and then took the next point too. Both times, because she knew where my location was and..." she paused, sighing in frustration, this time for herself "I hadn't even realised Suzu knew about it until the second point she got"

"Then she told you about it?" Haruki asked, feeling a cold air piercing through her clothes. There was no one else around them at that hour. Only the rustle of the trees' leaves were breaking the silence.

"Not Suzu-san. Inukai was across the street, laughing at me when Suzu took the second point" Kouko said, her eyes under the shadows, unaffected by the dim light coming from the street. "When Suzu left back for Myojo, Inukai yelled that she was the one who revealed my hiding spot. She was also laughing"

This was strange. Sure, Isuke would get sadistic with her classmates and her when she was bored, but still. Haruki also had no sign of her for the whole day, and Isuke waiting for the challenge to be over so she could win like that, was not her style.

"I see, I see" Haruki smilled, rubbing the back of her neck "So payback for you and a point for me, win-win deal".

"Exactly. So, make sure to find her" were Kouko's final words before retreating back inside the dark to continue with her pursuit.

'Only time _Isuke-sama was not being discreet was when she was drunk. Which happened once_ ' Haruki thought, deciding to go to Hashimoto Street and look for her opponent. Even if Isuke wasn't stil there, she had nothing to lose by checking it out.

Haruki quickened her pace. She didn't want to seem like she was running to anyone that happened to see her. But she was also thinking, what where the odds for Isuke actually being in the same spot Kouko had seen her half an hour ago.

After around ten minutes, she was finally there. Haruki decided to hold the device inside her hand, instead of putting inside her clothes this time. This way felt safer, although it would be more limitating to how she could use her hand during the fight. She tightened the grip on the square device they were using for the challenge. She repeated to heself this was very important for her familly, but all she could think of now was finding Isuke.

She took her cell phone and used it as a flashlight to enter the alley. Walking through the very end of it, she thought Isuke was not there anymore, until the light revealed a familiar back and hair.

Haruki's heart started racing, feeling like this was more like a dream rather than reality. She gulped, before trying to call the girl's name. There was something wrong going on.

"I-Isuke-sama..."

No response. "Isuke" she called again, reaching out her hand to touch her.

"Who do you think you call Isuke?! Don't piss me off" the girl turned around, talking in a lethergic way. Haruki felt a burden being lifted from her chest that the worse she was fearing turned out not being the case. But despite that, it was obvious there was something wrong with her roomate.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm not idiot!" Isuke said loud, laughing. Turning around to look at Haruki, she then started laughing even more. "I've been drugged" she managed to say, trying to stand up "I can't walk, and I still see these stupid cats all over the place"

Haruki tried to say something but stopped. She was surprised her roomate was aware she was on drugs, even though she was obviously hallucinating and couldn't control her body at all. But there was also this nasty feeling, making Haruki's stomach twisted. She had never seen the girl like that before, and she had the feeling something was off that day too.

"Who did this?"

"An idiot..." Isuke's voice filled with venom. "But not a cute one like you" Haruki felt her cheeks warming up. "I suppose now you will try to take advantage of the situation" the pinkette added, speaking closer to Haruki's face. Her voice was smoother and lower. It was definetely not unpleasant, even though Haruki wasn't used to this type of tone from her. It was also a bit creepy, since just a moment ago Isuke was laughing and was being loud.

"I have to. Isuke-sama, you didn't play fair the first time, so..."

"Idiot, I wasn't referring to the challenge"

Haruki sighed, trying to cool off the tension. She had to be very careful of her choice of words. "We need to go back"

Looking at the girl's clothes, there was no visible signs of Isuke's device. She was getting worried the longer they stayed at that place. Could that be the doings of the same prson she had seen inside their room the day before? He was older, and from the way he was dressed, he was obviously well off. "Do you still have the device on you? Nio should known if something like that happened to you" Haruki asked, clenching her fist.

"Of course I have it silly" Isuke managed to sit and lean back on the wall for support "My, but don't think you can play dirty now that I'm...wasted" she said almost playfully, but struggling to finish the sentence in the end. Her head was spinning and she kept seeing things that she knew didn't actually exist.

"W-We should call for help"

"No" Isuke gripped her roomate's hand. "I can't risk anything leaking out"

Haruki didn't understand what the girl was talking about. She wanted to ask, but this was not the right time. Perhaps, Isuke didn't want people to know about that incident. ' _What is going on with your life...What have happened in your past?'_

"Let's say Isuke has been a bad girl. So bad, that people want her dead, you know." she admitted, as if she could read her roomate's expressions.

Haruki felt a sense of dread again. The night was already long and it seemed like it has been forever. She knew a lot of people wanted assasins burried under the ground, but hearing this right from Isuke was unpsetting. Despte thefact that she knew that Isuke could take care of herself.

The assasin's hands trembled, as she pushed them on the floor to trying and stand up. She held into Haruki's shirt for support, the same one Haruki wore just the night before. The one she was with inside that club.

Haruki felt arms wrapping around her waist tightly. Isuke could smell Haruki's scent.

"Why do you wear men's perfume?" she muttered, feeling her headache getting worse as she was walking on her roomate's support. She asked, even though she knew very well the answer for this question. Sneaking her hands around Haruki's waist, she tried to search for the girl's device. She lifted Haruki's shirt, and quickly sneaked her hand inside. This was a payback for the night before.

Haruki was taken aback and before realising it, Isuke's hand had already reached her bra.

"Men are not supposed to have these"

Haruki almost dropped her down, trying hard to cover her embarassment. Besides, could Isuke have known anything about why she was wearing these clothes?

"But don't you think they're nice Isuke-sama?" she asked, thinking this was the best way to divert the attention.

"Idiot" Isuke hissed, removing her hands. Haruki sighed in relief. Thankfully her roomate still hated remarks like these, despite her senses not working properly.

"Oops" the pinkette smirked, spotting the device inside Haruki's left hand. She tripped, but catching Haruki off guard, she managed to snach it. She didn't press the button on it to win a point straight away, but held it tightly on her han.

"Answer me something and I won't press this" she mumbled, feeling her head spinning fast.

Haruki was in a difficult position. She didn't want to fight her in this condition, but at the same time she didn't intent on losing this opportunity to help her familly.

"Where were you last night?"

"Huh?" Haruki was taken aback "I was hiding and searching for you"

"Only this?" Isuke frowned, the effects of the drug making herlose her balance. She took a breath and placed her arm against the alley's bricked wall, in an attempt to support her body. That place smelled like mold and the air was moist.

"Yes"

"Wrong answer" Isuke laughed before pressing the button.

' _One point for Isuke-san. Please come back to Myojo to proceed with the challenge'_ Nio spoke from inside the device. The announcement sounded recorded rather than Nio speaking at that time. Which made sense, since it was quite late by now.

"Isuke-sama...even in this condition you are still a good assasin"

"Of course silly...I'm trained for this. After all...Momma...taught me..." the pinkette managed to say before collapsing on the floor. She felt Haruki's arms trying to hold her up. Her eyes were closing on their own, but with the little strength she had left, she put her hand on Haruki's face. At this point, she wasn't able to control her body anymore. She moved her thumb around Haruki's face in cycles, feeling the girl's soft skin.

' _Not bad_ ' were her last thought before blacking out.

* * *

Isuke woke up in her bed with an insiting headache. She looked outside the window, feeling totally disorientated. It was dark. She stood up to her bed and tried to recall what happened. The last thing she remembered was that jerk Goto injecting something inside her arm. Then Haruki finding her...and then everything was blank.

While consentrating to remember more, her phone rang. "Momma" she tried to seem as normal as possible.

 _"_ Isuke. We haven't heard from you the whole weekend. How have you been? Pappa was insisting that we should call"

"I'm sure it was Pappa's idea first" the assasin joked, trying to sound like her usual self. Eisuke chuckled.

"Since this weekened is over, I'd thought I should let you know about the next."

 _'Weekend?'_ Isuke repeated inside her head. She checked her phone; Sunday, 22:31 ' _I slept for a while day?_!' Isuke felt a sudden sense of panic.

 _"Y_ our aunt is having a familly dinner next week. I hope you can make it"

"Is Shina-chan going to be there too?" she asked, in a feign sweetness.

"You know how my sister is. She can't go without her daughter. But this time it was actually Shina's idea"

Isuke felt her blood rushing, but thankfully this made her more alert and awake. This definetely had something to do with the night before. "I'm not sure if I can make it. You see, there's this event going on here, so I will probably be busy"

"It's ok honey. Your Pappa and I will go there, you can come another time _"_

Isuke sighed in relief. She was trying to avoid her cousin as much as possible.

"Shina said you two met each other yesterday too."

"Oh I forgot to tell you, sorry Momma" the assasin gritted her teeth, trying not to let her frustration show. Of course Shina wouldn't miss such an opportunity to let her uncles know about their daughter's every single detail of the meeting. But at the same time twisting it a bit, to make it more interesting for her own amusement. "Don't count me out yet. Maybe I'll be able to make. You know how much familly means to me, right?"

 _"_ Of course, it's something Inukai assasins value the most. That is what makes us one of the strongest. We'll keep in touch again, good night from me and Pappa"

"Good night" Isuke hanged up and put her phone on the bed. After that, she was finally able to start screaming her annoyance away.

After she felt a bit better, she noticed a piece of paper on her table. Taking it, she read the note.

' _I'll be waiting at the Park across Yokoyama Street for a re-match. Hope you are not too scared to come'_

Isuke sighed. Seems like Haruki didn't take advantage and press the button when she was sleeping. She was such a fair playing idiot, it made Isuke feel a weird type of relief. Almost something like...happiness? The girl quickly shook her head. This was ridiculous. That readheaded pocky-eater was totally messing up with her on purpose.

There was not much time left until the challenge was over, but Isuke decided to go.

* * *

 _'Time's up'_ Nio announced through everyone's devices, who were dispersed all around the city. It was exactly 12:00 am, the time when the day changed to Monday.

Otoya and Shiena, who were still making a big fuss all around the streets of the city, stopped. They were even featured in the news of a local channel, saying how two girls broke a shop's window while they were playing a youth's game. To be precise, Shiena just changed her direction from running to find a hidding spot, back to Myojo. She had lost the track of time, since she was constantly been chased by Otoya. She wouldn't dare picking up a fight with the girl anymore, since her roomate was ready to physically harm her instead of playing a game.

Shiena learned her lesson the first time she tried challenging her opponent. Even though Shiena managed to get the first point, Otoya, using her scissors, had left marks all over her arms. It seemed like this challenge made Otoya forget about the little sense of self-restrain she had from harming girls.

Mahiru spent all three days without meeting Sumireko. She also managed to convince Shinya out of saying anything embarassing to their roomate when they would meet her again. Shinya mostly agreed because she was more sensitive to hunger than Mahiru, and Mahiru had more control over what they were eating most of the time. Spending all three days in that dark alley and without food, Mahiru made a point to her. It was more like blackmailing, but ultimetely it worked.

Chitaru and Hitsugi had the most relaxing weekened out all of their classmates. They saw this challenge like every other weekend, going out and doing fun stuff. Haru and Tokaku were almost the same, but with Tokaku occasionally being moody and not accepting Haru's ideas. On the other hand, she gave Haru one point, by pressing her own device's button. This way, she helped the girl to have an advantage in the challenges ahead. Plus, Tokaku was more skilled and trained for challenges heself, and she knew her roomate needed these points more than her.

Isuke was already in Myojo because she had lost the last point during their last fight. She wasn't sure if she was getting softer because she remembered Haruki helping her out, or because she couldn't bother much, since she had already won.

Despite that, she decided to focus on the moment and enjoy her victory. She put on her shoes and headed to the conference room where Nio had called everyone.

"Haruki-san"

"Hi Kouko-san" Haruki greeted.

"How did it go?" the brunette asked, still seeming frustrated, even after a whole day.

"Unfortunately I lost" Haruki said with a smile, rubbing the back of her neck. Even though she was glad she would now be able to rest, she couldn't help but think of Isuke all the day. She had only appeared last hour, which meant she was sleeping for the whole day. These drugs were strong, and it was unsettling thinking of how and why she ended up like that. For this reason, Haruki couldn't take advantage of the girl's situation and win the challenge when her opponent was sleeping. Besides, this was not the final challenge that would determine the winner.

"How about you, Kouko-san?"

"Same here too. Suzu kept on hiding for the rest of the remaining time. I searched everywhere but I couldn't find her" the assasin said, frustration showing on her face. "If only Inukai hadn't meddled..."

"Alright everyone. I'm sure you all missed me and want to talk and such, but I have to announce the results now" Nio said, finally coming inside the room. With her last sentence, the blonde earned a cringe from a certain pinkette.

Haruki looked around, until her eyes met a pair or yellow ones. Quickly, she averted them back to Nio. Even though she didn't agree with Isuke's ways of getting what she wanted, sometimes she wished she could be a bit more selfish. She would always treasure her familly above everything, but living with Isuke for the past year, she realised that she didn't care about herself enough. Or at all. And she didn't even had the will to, either.

"Without further ado, " Nio's voice cut through the room's commotion, as well as Haruki's thoughts. "here are the results;

Kenmochi-Takechi; 1-0

Azuma-Ichinose; 0-1

Namatame-Kirigaya; 0-0

Inukai-Sagae; 2-1

Kaminaga-Shuto; 1-2

Hanabusa-Banba; 0-0 "

* * *

"Did you find our first challenge enjoyable?" Yuri asked with a smile the bussiness men and women that were gathered once again after the results. She scanned their faces, and everyone seemed satisfied.

"I usually play bets on horseraces, but this is different and more upredictable" a man smoking a cigar said.

"I agree. It is more fun when we have to bet based on their skills and character." a brunette woman added, having her hands crossed on the round table everyone was sitting.

"I'm glad to hear" Yuri said "We plan on making the challenges even more unpredictable. Since the girls don't know about us, some of them see it as a game they could not participate if they don't want to. There had been some draws and uneventful pairings, which we would like to eliminate. I can promise you, my assistant and I are already working on that part."

Nio nodded. "We will notify you when the next challenge will take place. Be sure not to miss it" she bowed, turning on the lights so everyone could find the exit door and leave.

 _ **0-0**  
_

 **A/N**

Soo, it's been a while. Isuke and Haruki are one of my top otps, and this is what motivated me to write about them again, despite not having much time. And also the fact that they

- _spoiler_ -

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get canonically together in manga, was preety nice and reminded me why I ship them.


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